Joseph’s Brothers Envy Him & Sell Him into Slavery |
Genesis 37:1-36 The First Book of Moses Called Genesis |
Jacob [a.k.a. Israel] dwelt in the land of Canaan, [where] his father was a stranger. These are the generations [genealogy] of [Jacob/Israel.] [His son] Joseph was 17 years old & was feeding the flock with his [brothers,] the sons of Bilhah & Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought a [bad] report about them [back] to their father. |
[Jacob/Israel] loved Joseph more than all of his children, because he was the son of his old age & he made Joseph a coat of many colors. When his [brothers] saw that their father loved Joseph more, they hated him & could not speak peaceably to him. |
Joseph [had a] dream & he told & his brothers & they hated him [even] more. [Joseph] told them, I pray [that] you hear this dream [that] I [had.] For [I saw] we were binding sheaves [bundles of grain stalks] in the field & my sheaf arose & stood upright & [saw] your sheaves stood [around & bowed down] to my sheaf. [Joseph’s brothers] said to him, Shall you indeed [rule] over us or have [power] over us? And they hated him [even] more [when they heard the dream] & his words. |
[Joseph had] another dream & told it to his [brothers] & said, [In my other dream, I saw] the sun, the moon & the 11 stars [bowed down] to me. [When they heard it,] his father & his brothers, his father rebuked him & said, What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother & I & your brothers indeed come & bow down to the earth to you? |
His father [kept this matter in mind], but his brothers envied him. Joseph’s [brothers] went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. [Jacob/Israel] said to Joseph, [Aren’t your brothers] feeding the flock in Shechem? Come & I will send you to them. And [Joseph] said, Here I am. |
Go, I pray [that] you see whether all is well with [them & their] flocks & bring back word to me again. So, he sent [Joseph] out of the [valley] in Hebron & came to Shechem. [When Joseph] was wandering in a field, a man found him & asked, What are you [looking for?] |
[Joseph] told him, I'm [looking for my brothers.] I pray [that] you tell me where they [are feeding] their flocks? The man said, They are departed [from here] & I heard them say, Let's go to Dothan. Joseph went after his [brothers] & found them in Dothan. |
When they saw [Joseph at a distance,] before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. And they said, [Look, the] dreamer [is coming.] Come & let's [kill Joseph] & cast him into some pit & say a [wild] beast has devoured. We shall see what will become of his dreams. |
Reuben heard it & [tried to] deliver Joseph out of their hands & said, Let’s not kill him or shed [any] blood, but [throw] him into this pit in the wilderness & lay no hand on him, [so] that he might [rescue] Joseph from their hands, to deliver him to his father again. |
It [happened, Reuben went out to feed the flock &] when Joseph [had] come to his [brothers], they stripped Joseph out of his coat of many colors that was on him & took him & cast him into an empty pit, with no water in it. |
[While the brothers were eating] bread, they [saw] a company of Ishmaelites [coming] from Gilead with their camels bearing spices, balm & myrrh, going on their way down to Egypt. And Judah said to his [brothers,] What profit is it if we slay our brother & conceal his blood? |
Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, so our hand isn’t upon [Joseph,] since he’s our brother & our flesh. [The brothers] were content [to do so.] Then the [Midianite merchants] passed by & [Joseph’s brothers pulled him] out of the pit & sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver. |
They brought Joseph into Egypt. When Reuben returned to the pit [from feeding the flocks] & [saw] Joseph wasn’t in the pit & [Reuben tore] his clothes & [went] to his [brothers] & said, The child is not [there, where] shall I go? |
[The brothers] killed a kid [goat] & dipped Joseph’s coat in the blood & [took] the coat of many colors to their father, [Jacob/Israel,] & said, We have found this, do [you] know [if] it is Joseph’s coat or [not]? [Jacob recognized] it & said, It is my son’s coat. |
An evil beast has devoured him & Joseph is without [a] doubt [torn] in pieces. Jacob/Israel [tore] his clothes & put sackcloth on his [waist] & mourned for Joseph, his son [for] many days. |
[Although, all Jacob/Israel’s] sons & daughters came to comfort him, he refused to be comforted & said, I will go down to my grave mourning for my son & his father wept for him. And the Midianites sold Joseph into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh & captain of the guard. |